Author
Topic: aussie couple (Read 11411 times)

G,day . My wife and I are really getting serious about retiring in Chiang Mai .I am about to get out of the military on medical grounds,I should be on an annual income of $60,000 Aus .We plan on coming over for a holiday and doing some footwork on where to live.We would like to rent a decent apartment in a secure area and use that as a base to travel and enjoy life .Is there any where in Australia,Brisbane where we can meet and talk to someone or a agency that can guide us ?Its a bit daunting in regard to visa,s and accomadation but once we touch base with someone ,im sure all will work out .

With an income of $60K, you can live more than comfortably in CM and never feel deprived for anything. You are probably, eventually going to want to have an "O" visa with a retirement extension that allows you to live (but not work) long-term in Thailand on an annual basis. You need to have 800K THB in a Thailand bank or prove 65K THB monthly income, or some combination of the two. Although it is not difficult to do on your own, if it seems is scary, there are agencies in CM that can help you put organize it for a modest fee. ThaiVisa is a little overwhelming, but is the best source to learn about visas and such => http://www.ThaiVisa.com .

However, please don't feel that you have to do anything precipitously. In fact, that usually proves to be exactly the wrong thing to do. Get a 60 tourist visa from the Thai Consulate in OZ. Stay at a hotel while you are looking for something interim for a few months such as a serviced apartment. Use that as your base of operations to learn about Thailand, CM, what options are available for housing, what the different neighborhoods and "villages" are like, (do you want to be in the city center or in a "village" a little way from town?). Make some friends, get their advice. Find some places you like to hang out.

Then in a leisurly, rational way, plans for your "Golden Years" in Thailand.